One Week To Go

This week is definitely the scariest week of any show. I have always found that this past week is the week that tests my real work ethic. It also shows who is able to work under the pressure of opening a show in a short amount of time.

I can see the fear in everyone’s eyes!

Not really, although this week really wakes up the cast, when it comes to the rehearsals one can really see it all coming together. But it is still the last week before tech, and the energy of the whole cast is very low. I personally use the energy of the other actors to feed my acting.

So when there is a lack of energy I tend to fall flat.

This is a problem.

A problem that I am trying to find tricks to fix throughout rehearsal. I find that if I give myself some down time before rehearsal, after dinner or before, I will have more energy and better focus.

Being a double major does not give me the luxury of down time, let alone sleep. So how does one muster up energy that one does not have?

I stretch.

I will sit on the floor and stretch out my legs and back, stretch out my hamstrings, stretch my shoulders, arms, neck, even my face. I started to do this during my dance classes in high school. We would all stretch before class and I remember feeling more awake after those stretches.

So I started to do this before Midsummer rehearsal each night. I rather like it, not only do I wake up but I don’t end up hurting myself during rehearsal because of all the physical movement. I also use that time to gather my thoughts and try to let the day go and focus on the upcoming rehearsal.

Thursday’s rehearsal I didn’t stretch. That made such a big difference that I was amazed. I was so low on energy that I forgot some lines that I have never had problems with before.

I guess that goes to show that I really to benefit from a good and proper warm up before each rehearsal.